MOTORING & MOTORISTS

Evening Star, Issue 19274, 12 June 1926, Page 16

MOTORING & MOTORISTS

[BY RADIATOR;]

LIGHTING-UP TIMES. To-day 4.5!) Sunday 4.58 Monday 4.58 ■Tuesday ... * 4.53 Wednesday 4.57 Thursday 4.58 Friday 4.53 1 PEDAL POSITIONS. One now and again hoars of accidents arising through the inadvertent depression, of the accelerator pedal when it is intended to apply the brake. The pedal controls of some cars are awkwardly arranged in this respect. Where the pedal comes too near the brake the danger may often he obviated by arranging some sort of shield or shroud—perhaps of thin sheet metal or bent iron work—which -will guard the accelerator when the brake is applied. Often some similar nrrangement to act as a guide to guide the foot easily and safely to the accelerator may he devised, and will make for safety. Many drivers have peculiarities, personal to themselves, which may make it necessary to guard the feet against straying on to the wrong pedal. cminc makers guard against this ,'n the design, hut often—too often—the accelerator pedal is too near the brake, and in emergency the > wrong pedal is pressed, with sometimes disastrous results. CONSCIOUS DRIVING. Statistics collected recently in America are reported to have shown that considerably the larger proportion ol motoring accidents occur to anvou ot two or more years' experience, ana not to novices. Such a conclusion would bo unexpected by most motorists. Perhaps the following theory regarding driving will afford on explanation ol uus particular matter (says an English paper). This is that the physical movements of a practised driver wlion controlling the car are liable to bo exercised unconsciously, and that when this condition occurs tho conscious mind is lett tree to occupy itself with extraneous subjects. just ns it dooa in those moments which procodo sinking into sloop in bed. A state of mental apathy dulls the senses, and its intensity will vary with conditions incidental to driving and conducive to hypnosis, such as fixity of gaze, monotonous sound, and relaxation of the body in a comfortable seat. In tho case of people highly trained in forms of sport there can ho no doubt that action is largely subconscious; but when the specialist roaches a condition wherein his physical movements are automatically precise and adequate, ms brain is free and alert to plan, organise, and marshal his skill in advance, and ho a scratch man at his game. Just so the experienced motor driver roaches a condition whore the skill ot his hands in manipulating is exercised subconsciously; but it is at this particular point that so many stop. Subconscious driving is a state that permits tho conscious mind, tree of restraint, to wander. It encourages to conversation, to regarding distant views, the scenery, oven the condition of tho sky. Those pleasures of motoring are all very well for a driver passing slowly along an open, straight road devoid of traffic. But subconscious driving is apt, when once started, to continue into clangorous places, and out of peace comes a sudden smash, ior the subconscious mind cannot tackle an emergency, and there is a fatal delay before the conscious mind can obtain control. It should bo the aim of every experienced driver to fight against the tendency to handle Ills car automatically. He should keep his mind constantly busy with what he is at, and by conscious concentration seek to maintain absolute accuracy of driving. People do not realise how general is this matter of unconsciousness in driving. Yet the next time any experienced motorist starts on any familiar route, one covered every day for preference, let him set out with the object of performing every manoeuvre perfectly. Ho will soon bo surprised at the number of familiar curves be may find himself taking with the off wheels over an imaginary white safety line. He" will have to exercise more than usual care to make sure that the car is leaving a full half of the road clear at any point when rounding a blind corner. On the straight bits be will realise now and again that he is nearer to tho right side of tho fairway than to tho left. He will detect himself passing turnings faster than will permit him to make an emergency stop. And, lastly, he may observe that his handling of the mechanical controls of the car is not always above reproach. Most of ns will find that to go through such a self-imposed test reveals more lack of perfect skill than possession of it. Drive always with full consciousness and with all faculties on the alert, with full mastery of self and car. and no danger to car, self, nor others will arise. WINTER PREPAREDNESS. The finest protection tho chassis can have through the winter months from the ravages of mud and wet is a thorough greasing and oiling of every working part. Grease prevents tho entry of water and abrasive mud, and lubricates at tho same time. The springs may with advantage be removed, dismantled, their leaves cleaned, oiled, and enclosed in special gaiters or bound with insulating tape, it has boon proved that skidding is less likely to occur with very supple springing, owing to the bettor adhesion between the tyres and the road. In any case, the free working of the springs will provide greater comfort. The steering should be examined and all play token up, as this part of the car needs to be positive but free acting when correcting skids on a greasy highway. The brakes also should bo inspected, because tho lining may have worn thin, leaving tho heads of the securing rivets projecting, so that they grip the drums suddenly and cause tho wheels to lock—just what is the cause of skidding in eight cases out of ten. The brakes cannot come smoothly and progressively into action if the rivets are the first to make contact with the drums. A little trouble should also be taken to clean out the petrol feed system, such as the dank, filter, carburettor, etc., as a choked jet or petrol pipe can be intensely aggravating on a rainy, blustering day. If these suggestions are carried out the motorist can look forward with confidence to troublefree driving in tho worst of weathers. NEW USE FOR OLD TYRES. Discarded auto-truck tyros shredded and molted are being used to make rubber roads in Bradford, England. Blocks cut form tho tvres were tried first, but it was found difficult to keep them in place. Then it was decided to molt the tyres after cutting them to bite. A secret solvent is added to the bits of rubber, and the whole is oiled. Then it is poured nearly 3in thick over the concrete surface. Wooden trowels, coated with clay to prevent sticking, press the material flat, and then it is smoothed with a heavy hot roller. It is said the cost of the materia! is offset by money obtained from the sale of steel bands inside the tyres.

BrteS aswwats d holiday trips, roads, and places of toterest af* invited for this column.

CRANKSHAFT BEARINGS. Of all branches of engineering tho automobile employs a greater quantity of ball and roller bearings than any other. Gearbox, roar axles, steering, etc., aro universally equipped; but m very few cases aro they employed in the construction of engines. However, it has been conclusively proved by experience that many of the most successful racing engines have been those fitted with ball or roller bearing crankshafts. The advantages aro important; nevertheless mechanical constructional difficulties'have made it impossible for them to bo adopted for standard models. Ball bearings permit a considerable saving in volume and consequently weight. Another important point in favor of hall bearings is tho extreme simplicity of lubrication and tho absence of danger of tho bearing seizing immediately through insufficient oil or a momentary stoppage in tho oil circulation. Some engineers say that plain bearings, when supplied with an efficient supply of oil. offer loss frictional resistance than a ball bearing, duo to the film of oil between the two surfaces ; but there cannot bo a very serious difference between the two types as applied to any standard engine working under normal touring conditions. THE TREND TO SAFETY. Outstanding characteristics of this year’s International Motor Show. Melbourne. accentuated tho engineering trend toward safety, ’tho tremendous growth of ilie industry from tho “rich man’s toy” of some years ago to tho useful transportation vehicle of to-day, with the streets of our cities and towns and the highways of tho country, becoming every day more alive with automotive vehicular traffic,, calls for one outstanding advance in tho automotive engineering art —safety. Tho dangers of road transportation to-day are too obvious to bo cast aside with just a claim of safety, and without tho necessary mechanical and engineering qualities that, would make such a claim worthy of serious consideration. A casual glnnco_ around tho show illustrated the engineering trend for safety. Tho Passenger cur exhibits revealed improved riding qualities. built lower to the ground, and equipped with hotter brake design. Improved riding has come with a wider engineering acceptance of tho balloon tyro principle. Balloon tyres, ns a mutter of fact, interjected an entirely now factor in chassis design, and thus far it lias not reached its highest engineering possibilities. Some engineers have designed springs for tlio uso of balloon tyres with stabilisers, and not springs, where the addition of tho shock-absorbers or snubbing devices is a matter of persona! whim or fancy. RAILWAY CROSSING SIGNALS. AN AMERICAN DEVICE. America, where railway level crossing disasters have boon numerous, is making strenuous efforts to solve tho problem of tho level-crossing danger, and her latest effort appears to be successful. The device has been erected ac a hitherto dangerous crossing near Racine, Wisconsin, and consists of a double barrier designed, on tho ;p----praach of a train, to arrest the progress of the oncoming cur with or without the assistance of the driver. The first barrier is a long wooden arm attached to a strong,_ high upright, from which descends thin flexible ncel cables cased in bamboo. When a train is due tho arm swings across tho road, an illuminated sign ” Train coming ” is visible, and, should the careless motorist drive heedlessly on, the bamboo rods,strike tho windscreen and top of the car, thus giving the necessary warning. Should tho driver still he unwilling or unable to pull up, there is n second barrier, consisting of throe flexible steel cables enveloping a braking action set in heavy posts fixed in concrete. When the way is clear these cables are held aloft, hut when a train is signalled they descend and stretch across the road to detain the vehicle forcibly until the train has gone past. The position of these harriers is indicated ta the oncoming train by men us of lights changing with the swinging of the cables. Should the barrier be down and the way for the train clear, n green light i.s shown, while a red fight indicates that something is wrong. Each train onerates the working of Hie barriers by the usual methods of track circuits used for all signals, and i hen a mile away automatically sots the barriers in motion, at the same, tune sounding a loud gong and lighting up the signs. This device-is, of course, equally efficacious hy day or night, and even in dense fog. The harriers have been subjected to severe tests, and so far have emerged triumphant. A loaded lorrv was brought safely to a standstill without tho brakes being applied, and a racing car going at sixty miles nn hour was gradually stooped without'injury to the vehicle or shock to its occupants. Tho barriers aro painted in the most striking and arresting colors, and everything about them is designed to attract the eye of tho approaching driver and render more drastic action unnecessary.

TEACHING SKIDDING. Instruction in skidding, finch as ia given to drivers of the London omnibuses, gives a driver complete confidence and reduces the chances of a smash to a minimum. Barrels of waste oil are poured every morning on a specially prepared section of road about 200yds square. An ordinary service omnibus, with sand ballast equivalent to a load of passengers, is used for the lessons. The demonstrator takes his place at the wheel and swings the bus round and about on this surtms> with the ease and agility born of confidence. A nair of posts, _ with a 2in clearance only either side, is negotiated at a good twelve miles an hour, despite ft broadside skid that would have brought terror to the stoutest-hearted passenger 1 Then the novice is given the driving seat. Many of the drivers, after a few minutes on _ the track, tremble, then they try again—and vet again—until confidence comes. Finally, the worst skid fails to worry them. FLUSHING OUT THE RADIATOR. From time to time the radiators of cars need Hushing out with clean water. The same applies to the water jackets of the cylinders. The reason is that mineral deposit and rust are likely to accumulate and clog the fine water spaces in the radiator. Where the car is used in a very chalky district it is bettor to use rain water exclusively lor tilling up the radiator, as otherwise the deposit of “ fur ” may be rapid. Quito a good way of flushing out the system, where it is of the thermo-siphon type, is to insert the hose in the filling orifice of the radiator, after having removed the dram plug at the bottom of the radiator, thou the water is turned on and left to flow through the system for a quarter of an hour or so, and any impurities will bo to a large extent carried away. VALVE CLATTER. A noisy engine of the poppet-valve typo is often caused by excessive tappet clearance. Generally, where only one or two valves are noisy, the offender can he found hy damping the action of the valves, rockers, or push rods by holding them with the lingers, observing whether this ha.s any effect in reducing the sound. The number of noisy tappets or valves can generally bo judged by the frequency with which a slight tapping which arises from them occurs. It is evident that, with the engine running at a constant rate, a single noisy valve will only bo hoard with one-cighth of the frequency with which it would be audible when all eight valves on a four-cylinder engine wore badly adjusted. There are, of course, other untoward sounds which may from time to time proceed from the engine. One of the most alarming is the sharp metallic tapping caused on certain types of engines by a broken or stuck-up spring in the ball valve of the oil pump. The effect of this is that the steel ball, which may ho, perhaps, gin in diameter, moves sharply up and down with almost every revolution of the engine, jutting its seating a vigorous blow. The sound may bo similar to a runout bearing, but it can bo generally distinguished by the fact that there will bo no increased vibration, while no looseness in any of the big end bearings can bo found by turning the starting handle of the engine slowly against compression. Old taps will often proceed from slack magneto couplings, water pump drive, or from a loose pulley on a fan spindle. A really terrible noise and vibration will be set up if one blade of a four-blnded fan happens to break off; but this is generally soon discovered, as immediately such a horrible sound, accompanied by great vibration, is noticed, the first thing done is, as a rule, to lift the bonnet, and a glance at the fan will soon show what is at fault.

HERE AND THERE. Tlig total amount of receipts from motor taxation in Groat Britain tor the financial 1 year ended March 81, 1925, was £16,067,607. When tho road mnd was instituted a return of £B,000,000 was estimated lor the first year’s working, * * * * You would never think when von sea ono of the now bulk delivery oil trucks of 1,000 gallon capacity that it held sufficient spirit to tako a car right round tho world. It is a fact all tho same. A car, say, averaging. twontynve miles to the gallon, would be able to travel on tlie contents of ono of those tanks 25,000 miles, which would mean once round tho globe. •» * * : » . Members of a recently-formed motor cycling club in England contribute a sixpenny premium us insurance against police hues. » ■» •» * The latest stunt employed by a Milwaukee dealer to induce used car sales is to give a fifty-piece dinner set to each new buyer. « # * * A car was observed recently carrying as a mascot a stuffed animal’s head rather like that of a small deer, in the front of tho radiator. A sportsman’s oar evidently; and there are further possibilities. A fisherman, for instance, might easily exhibit as a mascot his uest “ catch ’ stuffed and mounted. * * * » Battered motorist (waking, up.); “Where am I? Where am If” Nurse: “ This is No. 116.” Motorist: “ Room or cell?” * » * * To tost engines and chassis under really wintry conditions, a prominent American car manufacturing concern has been obliged to build an expensive refrigerated tost shop. One of Mr Henry Ford’s hobbies is tho collection of American historic, buildings. His latest acquisition is Caleb Taft’s smithy at Uxbridge, Mass., which was immortalised by Longfellow in ‘The Village Blacksmith.’ » * * * American engineers continue to take very great interest in the high-speed oil-injection type of engine, and the opinion seems to bo general that tnis principle will make considerable progress during the next few years. In addition to its other advantages it has recently been pointed out that this kind of engine can be made entirely to solve the problem of eliminating poisonous carbon-monoxide from the exhaust, because the injected oil can bo burnt completely with an excess of air. B # ft ft It is a good plan to wipe off all tools on a bit of oily waste before restoring them to tho tool box. The oil deposited on the metal keeps it from rusting, which is a trouble to be guarded against. * * * * A party of keen owner-drivers were talking petrol, and the subject turned to rattles, their diagnosis and cure, with particular illustrations. The yarns became taller and taller, nntil at last one owner of a sm:.*. air-cooled car related solemnly how _ during tho last cold snap ho was considerably annoyed by a most peculiar rattle—the sort which a poor dog experiences, when cruel yokels have anchored to its _ tail a tin containing a pebble. A skilled mechanic was taken aboard and twisted himself with tho car in motion until ho had placed his car contiguous to almost every tliinkable moving part. Finally ho announced that tho rattle was in the petrol tank. By means of a cord, an electric torch was lowered into the tank. Imagine tho owner’s surprise on seeing a large lump of ice bobbing about on tho surface of the fuel. # # ft Jack and Jill Sped up a hill; A curve up there was sharp, The car upset, Jack’s rolling yotj Jill’s playing on a harp.